Nat was loved dearly by everyone who came in contact with him. He was a student of Herman Reinshagen, who in turn was a student of Simandl. Nat grew up in Chicago and was enormously successful there, playing theater at a time when the great economic crash left many, many people in the United States unemployed. He was very proud of the fact, that the only other person in Chicago who drove the same model car as his was Al Capone!

Nat loved to talk about the time that he got an unexpected phone call. "Would you be interested in playing a gig with Count Basie?" asked the voice at the other end of the line. Nat was overjoyed -- who wouldn't want to play with this jazz legend? "But there is one little problem that we should discuss," the voice continued. "All the fellas in the band are black, and we're actually looking for a black bass player... you wouldn't mind smearing a little shoe polish on your face when we played, would you?" Nat didn't have to think it over even for a second: "No problem -- sounds great!" And that's how he came to play with the Count.

He later settled down in Los Angeles, where he became involved with the recording industry, most famously playing the double bass and tuba for the "Dragnet" television series for the entire 12 years of its run. The motif that was used for impending danger on this show became an international icon.

When I met Nat for the first time, I was nine years old and came to my first lesson holding the bass the wrong way around -- "left-handed". The very first thing that Nat said to me was "do you like licorice?" I was flabbergasted, but managed to nod meekly. He set down the pipe that he was smoking, took out two licorice buttons, placed them on my music stand, and walked up to me, as if in passing, saying, "That's a nice looking bow -- you mind if I take a look at it?" He pretended to examine my bow (something which I only realized much later) and returned it to me, nonchalantly placing it in my right hand! In this way, he was able to get me to hold the bow in the right hand without making me feel embarrassed.

Nat always went out of his way to encourage and motivate the students. On those occasions when a lesson was not well prepared, he would invariably say, "well, you're really turning into a fine bassist!" This was the most devastating thing he could say, because we had all figured out the "code" beforehand, and knew what he actually meant...

I studied with him privately for 10 years, and in my first college year Nat passed away. We will all sorely miss his gentle and warmhearted ways. All of us who studied with him and went on to become teachers ourselves will always remember how he placed keeping an open mind, the quality of sound and a good honest technique above all else; we are indebted to him in so many ways!

The following story was related to me by Gina Gangursky, Nat's granddaughter:

"I wanted to relay something that my dad told to me a few times over the years about grandpa...apparently, Nat was playing in a Chicago club after-hours one night, and who should walk in but Al Capone himself!  My dad said that Al used to like to listen to jazz late at night and he caught grandpa on one of those nights.  I don't know if Nat ever said anything about this to you because it wasn't mentioned in the nice bio. that you wrote.  It's curious why grandpa wouldn't have told  about this incident if he joked about Al Capone and the car thing.  Oh, my Aunt Ida, one of Nat's sisters, told me that grandpa used to be so proud of his car.  We have some pictures of it; I'm pretty sure grandpa is sitting in the front seat.  It is a beauty!"

A short appeal to all who knew Nat Gangursky:
I would be very grateful if any of you who knew Nat and could supply additional information or anecdotes about him would contact me. You'll find my contact information here. Thanks!

Many photos of Nat and his family can be found here (courtesy of his granddaughter, Gina Gangursky)

Nat Gangursky and Frank Sinatra

My Uncle Nat Gangursky, Sinatra Musician

So i was chatting with a friend of mine who ultimately got me to join this forum..as he and i were chatting about our love of Frank and the good ole times, i explained my love began very early in time. my uncle who had taught me cello was a bassist..he also was a a bassist in the wonderful orchestra/band of Frank Sinatra. He also played with Count Bassie but i always remember stories about Frank.. I have some wonderful autographed pix from Frank through my uncle..

BeGe
Location: philly

Originally Posted by voice1  

I'm sure Bob might be able to easily source the sessions where Nat sat in with Frank like 1957's "Mistletoe and Holly".

Wednesday, July 10, 1957

Tuesday, July 16, 1957

Wednesday, July 17, 1957

These were the sessions for A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra : Nathaniel Gangursky (bass).

Nat and Dragnet

Who doesn't know this sound of impending danger? "Ta ta-da da...!" (listen to recording here...) Nat played all the sessions on double bass and tuba for the entire run of Dragnet (1951-1959) and was thereby the singular and original voice of this infamous theme of doom.